Exorcism 7 of The Bones of Patterned Truth

Lore Among the People of the Long Night, the discovery of the three paths of magic—the Drunkard’s Chaos, the Watcher’s Focus, and the Brewer’s Community—led to a schism of belief. A fourth path was forged not by a shaman in the field, but by a reclusive scholar and diagnostician named Kenai. He observed the other paths and found them wanting. To Kenai, pacifying a spirit without understanding its sorrow was a temporary balm, finding it without knowing its purpose was a hollow victory, and welcoming it without diagnosing its nature was a dangerous gamble. True mastery, he argued, came from analysis.

Kenai developed a new ritual, a dance that was neither clumsy, nor stoic, nor communal. It was methodical, a series of precise, repetitive movements designed to create a field of pure magical potential—a perfectly smooth, blank slate. Into this prepared space, he would cast a set of seven carved bones. He learned to read the intricate patterns they formed as they were disturbed by the ambient spiritual or magical energies of a place. The dance did not channel his emotion; it created the canvas. The bones did not tell the future; they described the present with perfect, analytical clarity. His method became the fourth path, the path of understanding, favored by scholars, magical investigators, and those who believe that every problem, no matter how terrifying, has a logical structure that can be understood and dismantled.

Description The Bones of Patterned Truth is a kit consisting of a set of seven small, hexagonal pieces of polished, fossilized bone. Each bone is perfectly smooth, cool to the touch, and inscribed on each face with a different abstract, geometric rune. The runes do not correspond to any known language but represent fundamental concepts like “connection,” “severance,” “source,” “flow,” and “barrier.” When handled, they make a soft, pleasant clicking sound like worn stones. They are kept together in a simple, dark leather pouch with a drawstring, often marked with a single, complex knot to represent the puzzles the bones are meant to solve.

Detailed Stats This item provides no direct combat or social bonuses. Its power is purely intellectual and informational, aiding the user in understanding the world around them.

Analytical Mind: The user gains a minor situational bonus on checks made to investigate the source of a magical effect, curse, or spiritual disturbance.
Pattern Recognition: The user receives a slight advantage on rolls made to decipher codes, understand complex diagrams, or recognize the repeating patterns in an enemy’s strategy or a creature’s behavior.

Passive Magics

Resonance of Falsehood: The bones in the pouch will vibrate with a low, almost subliminal hum when the user is within 15 feet of an active magical illusion or a person currently under the effects of a magical curse. The bones do not reveal the nature of the magic, only that a magical untruth is present.
Logical Framework: Constant exposure to the bones’ analytical magic has subtly reordered the user’s mind. They have a slight advantage on checks to resist confusion, madness, or magical effects that would cause them to act illogically or against their own reason.

Activable Magics

The Casting Dance of Diagnosis: The user performs a methodical, repetitive dance for one minute, clearing a small circular space on the ground and creating a temporary “diagnostic circle.” The user then focuses on a single magical phenomenon, cursed individual, or spiritual entity in the immediate vicinity and casts the seven bones into the circle. The pattern the bones form as they land is not random; it is a diagram revealing the core nature of the target. For a haunting, it might reveal the spirit’s primary motivation (e.g., “vengeance,” “loneliness”) and its physical anchor. For a curse, it might reveal its trigger (“sunlight”) and its effect (“weakness”). This ability provides crucial, actionable intelligence.
Diagram of Vulnerability: By performing the Casting Dance and targeting a single, specific creature (living, dead, or spiritual), the user can analyze its defenses. The bones form a pattern that reveals a single point of weakness. This is not a lengthy description, but a single, useful concept, such as “Vulnerable: Fire,” “Weakness: Iron,” “Averse to: Loud Noises,” or “Flaw: Overconfidence.” This information can then be exploited by the user or communicated to their allies to gain a tactical advantage. This ability can be used once per hour.

Specific Slot Kit

Tags Common, Kit, Held, Divination, Analysis, Investigation, Utility, Tier 1, Runic, Ritual, Scholar, Diagnostic, Bone, Intellect, Debuff (Information)

In the world of Saṃsāra, a tool like the Bones of Patterned Truth is not found where one buys swords or rations. It is a specialized implement, sought by those who trade in information, strategy, and the intricate mechanics of the magical world. Its commerce is conducted in places of thought and investigation.

The University Collegium Bookstore

In the quiet, academic quarters of major cities, attached to the great universities and magus collegiums, are bookstores that serve the students and faculty. These are orderly, silent places that smell of aged paper, bookbinding glue, and the faint, clean scent of ozone from magical study. The Bones of Patterned Truth would be stocked here, not as a mystical artifact, but as a “Standard Diagnostic Kit, Divination (Introductory).” It is sold alongside textbooks on spiritual theory, arcane geometry, and a student’s first set of scrying crystals.

How it is Bought and Sold: The process is formal and impersonal. A clerk behind a counter retrieves the item from a labeled drawer. There is no haggling; the price is set by the collegium’s board of acquisitions. Payment is expected in standard currency, though students may be able to charge the item to their tuition account. The bookstore might buy back a used set from a graduate, but only for a pittance, as they prefer to sell new, “un-attuned” kits.
Cost: The price is standardized and firm, justified by the collegium’s stamp of approval. A new kit costs 45 copper pieces. The buy-back price for a used set would be no more than 10 copper in store credit.

The Private Investigator’s Office

Tucked away on a foggy side street in a metropolis is the office of a private investigator or a freelance inquisitor. The room is a chaotic mess of case files, city maps riddled with pins, half-empty teacups, and strange relics from past investigations. The proprietor does not run a shop, but they live by trading in information and the tools of their craft. A set of bones, perhaps a spare or one taken from a now-defunct rival, might be seen sitting on their desk.

How it is Bought and Sold: The item is not for sale in any traditional sense. The investigator would only part with such a useful tool in exchange for something of equal or greater value to their current work. A client or fellow adventurer would need to offer a trade, not of goods, but of services or secrets. The transaction is a tense negotiation of favors.
Cost: There is no coin price. The cost is action. The investigator might say, “The bones are yours if you can find out who is smuggling illicit goods through the steam-tunnels for the Red Hand gang,” or, “Bring me the ledger from the corrupt harbormaster’s office, and we have a deal.” A direct offer of coin would be met with a cynical laugh and a price so high as to be an insult, signaling that their tools are not for casual purchase.

The High Gate Game Parlor

In the opulent upper levels of a city’s entertainment district lies a parlor where the wealthy, the intellectual, and the politically powerful gather. Here, they engage in complex games of strategy that can take days to complete, their every move a metaphor for the political games they play outside. In the parlor’s attached gift shop, alongside exquisite game boards of polished marble and ivory, one can find a set of the Bones of Patterned Truth, marketed as a “Scholar’s Puzzle” or a “Game of Insight.”

How it is Bought and Sold: Here, the transaction is a luxury purchase. The bones are presented in a silk-lined box with a hefty price tag, a status symbol for those who fancy themselves strategists. Alternatively, a masterfully crafted set might be the grand prize for the parlor’s annual strategy tournament, a trophy to be won through intellectual combat.
Cost: As a luxury good, the price is exorbitant, reflecting the status of its clientele. A standard set would sell for a full silver piece (100 copper). To win a set in the tournament would require a substantial entry fee and the skill to defeat the city’s sharpest minds.

The Itinerant Soothsayer’s Tent

At the edge of a sprawling market or within the colorful chaos of a traveling carnival is the tent of a wandering soothsayer. The air within is thick with strange incense, and every surface is draped with charts of unfamiliar stars and anatomical drawings of spirits. The soothsayer uses a well-worn set of these bones as the primary tool of their trade, casting them to read the patterns of a client’s life.

How it is Bought and Sold: The soothsayer would not sell their personal set of bones. However, they might keep a few simpler, unadorned “student’s sets” on hand. They would only sell one to a person who shows a genuine interest and aptitude for the art of divination. The sale itself is a lesson. The buyer must sit with the soothsayer, drink tea, and listen to the philosophical principles behind reading the patterns. The transaction is contingent on the buyer showing respect for the craft.
Cost: The cost covers both the item and the introductory lesson. The soothsayer would likely ask for a total of 50 copper pieces. They would refuse a sale to anyone who treats their beliefs as a mere superstition or who clearly intends to use the bones’ analytical properties for cruel or exploitative purposes.

The Bones of Patterned Truth is an implement of the mind, not of the fist. Its use in offense and defense is roleplayed as an act of intellectual discovery and strategic application. The user does not overpower a foe, but rather deciphers them, turning them from a terrifying unknown into a solvable problem.

In an Ancient and Puzzle-Ridden Tomb

Ancient ruins are often protected by more than just dust and decay; they are guarded by magical traps, complex mechanisms, and ancient spirits bound to their duty.

Defensive Roleplay: As the party enters a long, ornate hallway, the user’s hand goes to the pouch at their belt. The roleplay is subtle: a slight frown, a hand held up to halt the group. “Wait,” they might whisper, “the air here feels… wrong. Deceitful.” The Truth’s Resonance passive has alerted them to an illusion. To defend the party, they perform the Casting Dance of Diagnosis. They clear a small circle on the dusty floor and, with a few precise, methodical steps, cast the bones. The pattern they form is clear to the user’s trained eye. “The far wall is a lie, an illusion. The pattern shows a ‘concealed opening’—the floor before it is a pit trap.” By diagnosing the threat, they have defended the entire party from certain harm without a single spell being cast against them.
Offensive Roleplay: The tomb’s final chamber is guarded by an ancient, sorrowful specter, invulnerable to normal weapons. It wails and lashes out with draining, spectral energy. The party’s attacks pass right through it. While the others keep the spirit occupied, the user finds a safe corner and performs the Casting Dance of Diagnosis, focusing on the specter. The roleplay is one of intense concentration amidst chaos. They cast the bones, and the resulting pattern is their weapon. They shout over the wailing, “Its anchor is not here! The bones show a ‘connection’ to an object—a ‘broken locket’ in the sarcophagus behind it!” The offense is now clear: ignore the spirit and attack its anchor. The party’s warrior heaves open the sarcophagus, smashes the locket within, and the specter dissolves with a final, peaceful sigh. The user’s analysis provided the sole means of victory.

In a Tense Military War Council

The user is an advisor to a general, planning a crucial battle. The enemy is a cunning rival, and victory depends on strategy, not just strength.

Defensive Roleplay: The enemy’s army is advancing, and the user’s general lays out a defensive plan on the campaign map. The user, however, feels a sense of unease. Their Pattern Recognition passive allows them to see what others cannot. They would step forward, tracing the lines of past battles on the map. The roleplay is one of quiet confidence. “General, with respect, this is what he wants us to do. See here, and here? In his last two major engagements, he used this exact same pincer formation. He is repeating the pattern. He is baiting our center.” They defend the army not with shields, but with logic, preventing the general from falling for the enemy’s trap.
Offensive Roleplay: The time comes to plan their own attack. The user performs the Diagram of Vulnerability dance over the map, focusing all their intent on the rival general himself. They cast the bones, which arrange themselves into a new, insightful pattern. “General,” the user announces, “I have it. The bones show his flaw is not in his army, but in his mind. The pattern reads ‘Flaw: Pride.’ He cannot abide a slight, and he will never refuse a direct challenge from a ‘lesser’ opponent.” The offensive plan becomes clear: instead of a full-scale assault, they will send a small, elite champion to issue a formal, public duel to the enemy general. By analyzing and attacking the rival’s personal weakness, they can throw his entire army into chaos or remove its head with a single, targeted blow.

In a Cursed Village Under a Baleful Influence

The party enters a village where the inhabitants are paranoid and hostile, seeing friends as foes and strangers as monsters. Direct confrontation would lead to tragedy.

Defensive Roleplay: As soon as the party is met with glares and raised pitchforks, the user’s Truth’s Resonance passive begins to hum, a silent alarm in their mind. They hold back their party’s warrior, stating calmly, “Their anger isn’t their own. This village is sick with a magical falsehood.” This initial diagnosis defends the party from reacting with violence and defends the innocent villagers from the party’s blades. They then perform the Casting Dance of Diagnosis on a nearby villager. The bones reveal the curse’s nature: “Source: Auditory” and “Symptom: Fear of Silence.” The defense is now knowledge: they know the curse is spread by a sound and that quiet places are where the fear is worst.
Offensive Roleplay: Knowing the curse’s nature, the user formulates an offensive plan. The diagnosis revealed the source is auditory. The user listens and realizes a strange, discordant ringing from the village bell tower is constantly echoing, a sound the villagers have grown used to. The offense is to attack the source. The party fights their way to the bell tower. Inside, they find not a bell, but a screaming, magical artifact. After it is destroyed, the user performs the Diagram of Vulnerability on the lingering magical static. The bones show the cure, the curse’s final weakness: “Antidote: A Song of Community.” The user then leads the confused but no-longer-cursed villagers in a simple, heartfelt round-song. The act of creating a harmonizing, communal sound offensively scours away the last remnants of the paranoid curse, healing the village.

Perception of Activation:

Sight

User’s Perspective: The world is stripped of its chaotic beauty and resolved into pure data. Colors become slightly desaturated as the user’s mind prioritizes shape and trajectory over hue. Motion is no longer fluid but a series of clear, predictable vectors. The runes on the cast bones glow with a sharp, clean, cyan light, and the glowing lines connecting them form a perfect, unwavering schematic in the user’s vision.
- Positives: This analytical vision allows the user to perceive the world as a system of interlocking parts. They can easily spot structural weaknesses, predict the trajectory of a thrown object, or recognize the underlying geometric patterns in a seemingly random magical assault.
- Negatives: The perception is profoundly alienating. A friend’s smile is perceived as a complex series of muscle contractions, and a beautiful landscape is reduced to mere topography. It becomes difficult to appreciate art, emotion, or any “illogical” aspect of life.
Observer’s Perspective: The user’s movements during the preparatory dance are precise, methodical, and utterly devoid of emotion, like a complex clockwork mechanism calibrating itself. When the bones are cast, they seem to fall into a perfect, unnaturally organized pattern. The runes glow with a sharp, sterile, blue-white light that casts no shadows.
- Positives: The user appears intellectually formidable, controlled, and brilliant. The precision of their magic is a clear display of immense mental discipline.
- Negatives: The user’s detached, mechanical nature is deeply unnerving. They can appear arrogant, cold, or dangerously inhuman to those who do not understand the process. Their lack of emotional reaction can be mistaken for a lack of morality.

Sound

User’s Perspective: Ambient sounds are filtered and converted into pure information. The user no longer hears words but perceives the logical data-stream of a conversation. Music is not a melody but a mathematical progression of frequencies. The bones themselves emit a series of distinct, clean “pings” directly into the user’s mind, each note a specific variable in the equation being solved.
- Positives: The user is completely immune to sonic distractions, verbal intimidation, or emotional manipulation through speech. They perceive only the logical content and fallacies in an argument.
- Negatives: The user becomes deaf to all subtext. Sarcasm, poetry, emotional pleas, and tone of voice become meaningless concepts, making them socially inept and unable to empathize with others on a human level.
Observer’s Perspective: The user becomes completely unresponsive to the sounds around them, their focus absolute. The bones make only a soft, dry clicking sound when they land. The most noticeable trait is the sheer intensity of the user’s silent concentration.
- Positives: The user’s focus is a clear and unambiguous signal that a serious intellectual process is occurring.
- Negatives: The user appears completely disconnected and vulnerable. An ally shouting a warning might be ignored, making them a liability in a dynamic, dangerous situation.

Smell

User’s Perspective: The sense of smell becomes a form of chemical analysis. Scents lose all emotional and nostalgic connection. The user no longer smells “a home-cooked meal” but rather perceives “a complex aerosol of denatured proteins, caramelized sugars, and various esters.”
- Positives: This allows for incredibly precise analysis. The user could identify a person’s recent meals, detect minute chemical traces, and track by scent with the accuracy of a machine.
- Negatives: The profound alienation from one of the most basic senses can be disorienting. The joy and comfort of familiar scents are lost, replaced by cold data.
Observer’s Perspective: None.

Touch

User’s Perspective: The bones feel perfectly smooth and cool, with the unyielding texture of polished glass. The user’s sense of touch becomes analytical; they can feel the minute structural flaws in a brick by assessing its texture or the exact temperature difference between two surfaces.
- Positives: Grants a precise, almost microscopic, understanding of the physical environment through touch.
- Negatives: The user loses the comfort and meaning of touch. A friendly hand on the shoulder is perceived only as “3.2 psi of pressure and a thermal delta of +7.4 degrees.”

Taste

User’s Perspective: All taste is temporarily neutralized, replaced by a completely sterile, flat sensation, as if the user were tasting distilled water.
- Positives: The user cannot be fooled by pleasant-tasting poisons, as all flavor is absent.
- Negatives: The complete, temporary loss of a primary sense is disorienting and removes a fundamental experience of being alive.

Extra-Sensory Perception: Logical Inception

User’s Perspective: The user does not simply see the pattern of the bones; their mind receives the conclusion as a fully-formed, undeniable logical proof. The answer to their query—the nature of a curse, the weakness of a foe—unfurls in their consciousness like a perfect geometric theorem or a flawless line of code. It feels less like an insight and more like a remembered truth.
- Positives: The information is pure, objective, and free from the taint of emotion or misinterpretation. It is the absolute, mechanical truth of the situation.
- Negatives: This form of knowledge is cold and merciless. It leaves no room for hope where the logic dictates there is none. It can lead the user to brutally pragmatic conclusions that may be logical but are also deeply unethical or cruel.
Observer’s Perspective: A magically-sensitive observer would perceive the area around the user become unnaturally ordered. The chaotic, flowing energies of ambient magic seem to momentarily snap into a rigid, crystalline grid. It is like watching a turbulent stream instantly freeze into a perfect, motionless sculpture.
- Positives: It is a display of incredible magical control and intellectual power, a sign of a truly formidable mind.
- Negatives: The effect is profoundly unnatural. It feels as if the vibrant, chaotic, living nature of magic is being momentarily crushed and replaced by a cold, sterile, and unyielding order, which can be terrifying to witness.

Extra-Sensory Perception: Probabilistic Foresight

User’s Perspective: The user gains a temporary, intuitive understanding of probability streams. When looking at a complex situation, they can see the likely outcomes of various actions as shimmering, transparent “ghosts” of the future, each with a different intensity corresponding to its likelihood.
- Positives: This allows for incredible strategic and tactical planning. The user can almost always choose the path with the highest probability of success.
- Negatives: The user can become a slave to the odds. They may refuse to take a course of action with a low probability of success, even if it is the only moral or heroic option. It can also lead to “analysis paralysis,” where too many branching possibilities make it impossible to choose.
Observer’s Perspective: To an outside observer, the user might seem to possess a strange and limited precognition. They might duck an arrow a split-second before it is fired or step aside from a falling rock that has not yet broken loose, because they are reacting to the highest probability outcome, not the event itself.
- Positives: The user appears to be a tactical genius with an uncanny ability to predict their opponent’s moves.
- Negatives: The user’s movements seem bizarre, random, and nonsensical to allies who cannot perceive the probabilistic threats the user is reacting to, making teamwork difficult.

The Scholar’s Theorem

This text describes the precise and intellectually demanding process required to create a set of Bones of Patterned Truth. This is not a craft of passion or intuition, but one of academic rigor and flawless logic. Each step is a variable in a complex equation, and any error, however minor, will result in a null solution: a set of inert, useless bones.

Materials Needed

Seven Matched Knuckle Bones: These must be the fossilized knuckle bones of a single creature known for its great cunning or intellect. The bones must be of a similar size, shape, and density.
A Stick of Obsidian: A pure, flawless piece of volcanic glass, to be powdered for the ink base. It is chosen for its association with truth and the scrying of hidden things.
Pure Silver Dust: A small measure of finely ground silver, which will act as a magical conductor within the ink.
Silent Water: A vial of purified water that has been kept in a vessel of lead in a place of absolute silence for no less than three days and three nights. This removes all chaotic sonic residue.
A Fine Crystal Abrasive: A powder of ground crystal used for the final, precise polishing of the bones.
A Square of Dark, Unblemished Leather and a Cord: For the creation of the pouch and its puzzle-knot drawstring.

Tools Required

A Set of Precision Calipers and a Balance Scale: For ensuring the seven bones are calibrated to be as physically identical as possible.
Diamond-Tipped Engraving Styluses: A set of fine, hardened styluses capable of inscribing flawless, sharp lines onto fossilized bone.
A Porcelain Mortar and Pestle: For grinding the obsidian and mixing the ink without chemical or magical contamination.
A Quiet, Well-Lit, and Orderly Workspace: The environment must be free of distractions and conducive to deep, intellectual concentration.

Skill Requirements

Masterwork Engraving: The crafter must possess the skills of a master engraver or gem-cutter, capable of creating perfect, intricate geometric designs on a small, hard surface.
Formal Logic or Arcane Theory: The creator must have a deep, academic understanding of logical proofs, mathematical theorems, or the fundamental theoretical principles of magic. They are not merely carving shapes, but inscribing pure concepts.
Profound Intellectual Stamina: The process requires many hours of unbroken, meticulous mental focus. It is an exhausting exercise in pure reason.

Crafting Steps

Calibration of Variables: The process begins with measurement. The crafter takes the seven chosen bones and uses the calipers and balance scale to measure their dimensions and weight. Using the crystal abrasive, they painstakingly file, sand, and polish each bone until all seven are as close to physically identical as modern methods allow. This removes any physical bias from the set.
Formulation of the Conductive Medium: In a quiet, focused environment, the crafter grinds the obsidian stick into a microscopic powder using the porcelain mortar and pestle. The silver dust is then added and mixed thoroughly. Finally, the silent water is added drop by drop until a smooth, black, conductive ink of perfect viscosity is achieved.
The Runic Inscription: This is the intellectual core of the creation. For each of the abstract, geometric runes to be inscribed, the crafter must first hold the pure, logical concept of that rune in their mind (e.g., the concept of “causality,” “paradox,” “symbiosis,” etc.). While maintaining this state of pure thought, they use a diamond-tipped stylus to flawlessly engrave the corresponding rune onto a face of one of the bones. This process is repeated until all faces of all seven bones are inscribed. A single slip of the hand or a wandering thought requires the entire set to be discarded and the process begun anew.
The Logical Proof: The inscribed bones are arranged on a flat, clean surface to form a known “master pattern”—a complex diagram representing a fundamental magical law or logical theorem, such as the Axiom of Connection or the Seven Proofs of Causality. Using the silver-obsidian ink, the crafter must carefully trace the lines of the theorem, connecting the appropriate runes on the different bones, effectively “closing the circuit” of the logical proof.
The Quickening of Intellect: As the ink on the final connection of the proof dries, the magic is ready to be awakened. The crafter must perform a significant act of pure intellect. This typically involves reciting a complex epic poem from memory without error, solving an infamous logical puzzle, or playing out both sides of a master-level strategy game and achieving a draw. This act of pure reason “boots” the bones, charging them with analytical magic and attuning them to the crafter’s mind.
System Containment: The now-activated bones are gathered and placed within the dark leather pouch. The drawstring is then tied into a famously complex “puzzle knot.” This knot is not merely for closure; it acts as a “logic lock,” keeping the potent analytical magic of the bones safely contained and stabilized until they are next cast.

The Riddle of the Unseen Knot

In the days when the People of the Long Night knew the three paths, they thought they had a medicine for all ghost-sickness. For loud sorrows, the thirsty gourd. For quiet poisons, the eyes of bone. For lonely hearts, the ever-warm paddle. They had comfort for emotion and a lens for seeing and a welcome for company. But then came a new sickness, a fourth sickness, and for this there was no medicine.

It was not a spirit that wailed or hid or made mischief. It was a knot. A knot in the mind. A man would go to tie his boots and his fingers would forget the way of it. A woman would go to her own home and the path would be a riddle to her feet. Their thoughts became tangled threads. They were not sad or afraid or angry, they were just… stuck. The shamans of the three paths tried their ways. The drinkers of the grain-milk danced their crooked dance, but you cannot make a knot drunk. The watchers with their still dance could see the sickness on the people, a faint shimmer, but they could not see its shape. The brewers with their kind hands gave the people blessed ale, and the people were happy but still could not remember how to tie their boots. The sickness was a puzzle, and the three paths had no answer for a puzzle.

There was a man named Kenai. He was not a shaman. He did not dance or sing songs. He sat in a room of scrolls and he thought. He watched the others fail, and he had a great question. If the sickness is a knot, he thought, then it has a beginning and an end. It has a pattern. You do not fight a knot. You do not feel a knot. You look at the knot, and you think, and you find the one thread to pull.

Kenai went to his quiet room. He did not take a gourd or chimes or a paddle. He took a small leather bag. Inside were seven small bones, the knuckle bones of a great riddle-fox, a beast from the old world that was more cunning than any hunter. He cleared a space on the floor and made a circle with clean, white sand. This was his great-hall. He began his dance. It was not a dance for the feet. It was a dance for the head. He walked the circle, his steps slow and the same, again and again. And as he walked, he spoke the Great Theorems. He spoke of the line that has no end, and the number that is less than one. He cleared his mind of all things but logic. His mind became a clean, white space, like the circle of sand. This was his ritual.

When his mind was empty of all but thought, he stopped. He stood in the center of the circle and he took the seven bones from their bag. He did not ask the bones to show him a feeling. He did not ask the bones to show him a secret. He held the bones and he asked the great question: what is the shape of this knot? And he cast them into the sand.

The bones did not land in chaos. They did not form a picture of a man or a ghost. They formed a diagram. A pattern of lines and angles. Kenai looked, and he thought and he thought. He saw that the pattern was a map. A map of the sickness. It showed how the knot was tied. And in the center of the pattern, one bone lay separate from the others. This was the one thread.

The map of the bones showed that the knot was a knot of pure reason, and so it could only be untied by an act of no-reason. The one thread was an action of foolishness. Kenai left his room. He went to the tangled people. He did not give them a drink or a blessing. He taught them a new thing. For one day, he told them, you must not walk forward. You must only walk backward. You must not speak your name, but sing it.

The people did this. They sang their names and walked backward, and it was a great foolishness. But the knot in the mind, which was a thing of pure logic, could not understand the foolishness. The perfect pattern of the sickness was broken by the illogical action. And the knot unraveled. The men remembered how to tie their boots. The women remembered the path to their homes.

And the people learned that there are four sicknesses of the spirit. And for the fourth sickness, the sickness of a tangled mind, the only medicine is to have a greater mind, and to see the shape of the truth.

Moral of the story: You cannot untie a knot by pulling on the whole rope, but only by finding the one thread that is out of place.

Suggested conversions to other systems:

Call of Cthulhu

The Diagnostic Bones of Kenai

This is a set of seven polished, fossilized knuckle bones, each inscribed with complex geometric patterns. They are not an artifact of the Mythos, but rather a tool of pure, analytical folk magic, designed to deconstruct and understand supernatural phenomena. However, applying cold logic to the fundamentally illogical nature of the cosmos is a dangerous act that can strain the user’s sanity, as some truths are not meant to be systematically understood by the human mind.

Game Mechanics:

Pattern Recognition: The user’s mind is attuned to seeing patterns in the illogical. They gain a Bonus Die on any Cthulhu Mythos or Occult roll when trying to identify the repeating elements of a ritual, the significance of a recurring symbol, or the behavioral pattern of a creature.
Ritual of Diagnosis: By performing a methodical ritual that takes 10 minutes and succeeding on a Hard INT roll, the Investigator can cast the bones to analyze a single supernatural phenomenon they are aware of. On a success, the Keeper provides two key, factual pieces of information about the entity or effect (e.g., for a ghost: its primary motivation and its physical anchor; for a Mythos ritual: its intended purpose and a key component). Gaining this unnatural insight costs the user 1/1d3 Sanity points.
Analysis of Vulnerability: When confronting a single Mythos entity, the Investigator can spend a full round casting the bones and make an Extreme Cthulhu Mythos roll. Success reveals one specific vulnerability or exploitable behavioral pattern (e.g., ‘Averse to pure iron,’ ‘Always attacks the person closest to the door,’ ‘Cannot cross a line of salt’). Learning such an intimate detail of a cosmic being costs 1d2/1d4 Sanity points.

Blades in the Dark

The Scholar’s Bones

A small, heavy leather pouch containing a set of seven smooth, hexagonal bones covered in strange, interlocking symbols. In Duskvol, where information is more valuable than gold, these bones are a priceless tool for any crew that relies on planning and knowledge. They don’t offer brute force, but provide the one clue or piece of leverage needed to make a score go smoothly. They are favored by Whispers, Leeches, and spymasters.

Item Tags: Magical, Attune, Ritual, Investigative, Esoteric

Game Mechanics:

Fictional Permission: This item allows you to analyze and understand complex magical and supernatural problems. It gives you narrative justification for making logical leaps and connections that others might not see.
Ritual of Analysis: When you perform a ritual to gather information about a supernatural entity, curse, or magical effect, you get +1 Effect. You can ask the GM one specific question about the target’s fundamental nature (e.g., ‘What is it afraid of?’ ‘What binds it to this place?’ ‘How does this curse work?’) and you will receive a truthful and useful answer. Performing this ritual costs 1 stress.
Diagram of Weakness: When you Study a target (a person, ghost, or institution) to find a weakness to exploit, you can use the bones as your analytical tool. You gain Potent for this action. The weakness you discover can then be used to set up a future action with improved effect, such as a targeted social assault, a precisely-aimed shot, or the creation of a specialized poison.

Dungeons & Dragons (5th Edition)

Bones of Conclusive Analysis Wondrous item, uncommon (requires attunement)

This pouch contains a set of seven hexagonal, fossilized bones, each inscribed with a complex geometric rune. To attune to this item, you must spend a short rest in quiet contemplation, solving a logical puzzle or complex equation while handling the bones. The bones focus the mind, allowing the user to perceive the underlying structure of magic and the flaws in their enemies.

Pattern Recognition. While these bones are on your person, you have advantage on any Intelligence (Investigation) check made to decipher a code, recognize a hidden pattern, or solve a logical puzzle.
Analyze Magic. As an action, you can cast the bones and focus on a single creature, object, or magical effect within 60 feet. You learn its school of magic, if any. For the duration of your turn, you have advantage on any Intelligence (Arcana) check you make to identify the properties or effects of your target. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.
Diagram of Vulnerability. As a bonus action when you see a creature attack, or as a reaction when you are hit by an attack, you can cast the bones to learn a crucial detail about your foe’s defenses. You learn one of the target’s Damage Vulnerabilities, Damage Resistances, or Damage Immunities of your choice. Once you use this feature, you cannot use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

Knave

Knucklebone Abacus Capacity: 1 slot

A small leather pouch containing seven smooth, inscribed knuckle bones. They are not used for predicting the future, but for analyzing the present. By casting them and interpreting the patterns, a clever user can deconstruct complex problems and reveal hidden truths.

You have advantage on any roll made to solve a puzzle, decipher a code, or understand the workings of a complex mechanism.
By spending 10 minutes concentrating on a magical trap, curse, or strange phenomenon, you can cast the bones. The GM will give you one useful, literal clue about how it functions or how it can be overcome (e.g., ‘The curse is tied to the mayor’s ring,’ ‘The statue only animates when no one is looking at it,’ ‘The magical field is disrupted by cold iron’).
In a conflict, you can spend your entire turn observing a single enemy and casting the bones. The GM will tell you one of the creature’s significant weaknesses or a flaw in its tactics (e.g., ‘It is terrified of fire,’ ‘It cannot see things that are standing perfectly still,’ ‘Its armor is weakest on its right side’).

Fate Core

The Bones of Inescapable Logic

In Fate, this item is an Extra. It represents a character’s reliance on and proficiency with cold, hard logic, granting them a core Aspect and a set of stunts designed to deconstruct problems and opponents.

Item Aspect: A Flaw in Every Pattern. This aspect defines the character’s analytical worldview. It can be invoked for a bonus when using skills like Investigate to find a clue, Notice to spot a weakness, or Will to resist emotional manipulation. It can be compelled by forcing the character to over-analyze a situation, leading to “analysis paralysis” or seeing a flaw where none exists, thus creating a story complication.

Item Stunts:

Diagnostic Casting: Because I can find A Flaw in Every Pattern, once per scene, I can Create an Advantage by casting the bones to analyze an opponent or magical effect. The aspect created should represent a key vulnerability or hidden truth (e.g., Secretly Terrified of Water, Powered by a Hidden Crystal, Relies on a Faulty Assumption). This aspect enters play with one free invocation.
Logical Parry: Because I can find A Flaw in Every Pattern, I can use my Investigate skill to defend against social attacks that use the Deceive or Provoke skills. I do not engage with the emotion, but instead analyze the flaws in my opponent’s argument or emotional display.
Predictive Model: Because I can find A Flaw in Every Pattern, I get a +2 to Create an Advantage with the Notice skill when I am specifically trying to predict an opponent’s next move in a physical or social conflict.

Numenera & Cypher System

Predictive Pattern Analyzer

This artifact is a small, soft pouch containing seven hexagonal chips made of a ceramic-like material that feels cool to the touch. When cast, the chips emit a low-level data pulse, scanning their surroundings and interfacing with the user’s mind to provide a schematic of a problem.

Level: 4 Form: A pouch containing seven inscribed ceramic chips. Effect:

Passive: The artifact passively analyzes energy fields in the user’s vicinity. The user is immediately aware if an object they are observing is a hologram or illusion, or if a creature is under a mind-altering chemical or psionic effect.
Action: The user concentrates for a round, focusing on a single creature and casting the chips. The artifact provides a brief data-stream on the target’s weaknesses. For the next minute, any attacks the user makes against that target are eased by one step.
Action: The user casts the chips to analyze a hazard, trap, or complex mechanism. The user can then make a Level 4 Intellect-based task to understand its workings. On a success, any subsequent attempt made by the user to disarm, bypass, or operate that specific device is eased by two steps. Depletion: 1 in 1d10.

Pathfinder (2nd Edition)

Kenai’s Cognitive Divination Set Item 3 Uncommon Divination Magical Held Invested Usage Held in 1 hand (the pouch); Bulk L

This simple leather pouch contains seven smooth, hexagonal knuckle bones, each bearing a complex geometric rune. To invest this item, you must spend time tracing the patterns and contemplating their logical significance. The bones help the user perceive the underlying structure of the world, from enemy tactics to the nature of curses.

Passive You gain a +1 item bonus to checks to Decipher Writing and to Recall Knowledge about a creature’s or organization’s patterns and tactics.

Activate (One Action) Concentrate, Secret Frequency Once per 10 minutes Effect You focus on a creature you can see and cast the bones to analyze its defenses. Make a secret Perception check against the creature’s Deception DC.

Critical Success You learn one of the creature’s lowest weaknesses or least-resisted damage types. Your next Strike against the creature before the end of your turn gains a +1 circumstance bonus to damage.
Success You learn whether or not the creature has any weaknesses.
Failure You learn nothing.
Critical Failure You learn a piece of false information about the creature’s defenses.

Activate (10 minutes) Concentrate, Exploration Effect You cast the bones over a creature or object suffering from an ongoing affliction (such as a curse or disease). You can then attempt to Identify Magic on the affliction. You gain a +2 item bonus to this check, and if you succeed, you also learn the DC of the affliction and its effect.

Savage Worlds (Adventure Edition)

The Riddle-Solver’s Bones

A small bag containing seven oddly-carved knuckle bones. It’s said they were carved by a master gamesman who believed every conflict was just a riddle waiting to be solved. Tossing them down and reading the pattern they make can reveal the answer to a stubborn puzzle or the weak point of a stubborn foe.

Pattern Recognition (Passive): The user gains the Investigator Edge while they possess the bones. If they already have Investigator, they gain an additional +1 to their Investigation roll (for a total of +3).
Analyze Foe (Action): As an action, the user can make a Smarts roll as a Support action targeting a single foe. On a success, they find a weak point, granting allies a +1 bonus to their next action taken against that foe. With a raise, the bonus is +2. This represents calling out a vulnerability or tactical flaw.
Diagnose Problem (Ritual): When faced with a magical trap, a complex puzzle, or a mysterious curse, the user can perform a 1-minute ritual of casting the bones. This allows them to make a Research or Occult roll with a +2 bonus to figure out how the affliction or mechanism functions and how it might be bypassed or broken. The GM should provide one concrete, useful clue on a success.

Shadowrun (6th World)

Kenai-Biorg “Pattern” Analysis Foci

This device, colloquially known as a “spell-lock” by street shamans, is a sophisticated analytical tool disguised as a primitive fetish object. It consists of seven hexagonal pieces of polished, bio-synthetic bone kept in a simple pouch. Each “bone” is a networked sensor that creates a low-level diagnostic field, allowing a magic user to deconstruct and analyze magical phenomena with frightening accuracy.

Rating: 2 Availability: 12R Cost: 16,000 nuyen Device Type: Spellcasting Foci (Detection)

Game Mechanics:

Analytical Engine: This device functions as a Rating 2 Spellcasting Foci. It adds its Rating in dice to the user’s Spellcasting tests, but only for spells of the [Detection] category that are informational in nature (such as Analyze Device, Mind Probe, or Clairvoyance).
Pattern Recognition: After observing an opponent for one full Combat Turn, the user can make a Magic + Intuition (3) test. On a success, the user identifies a flaw in the opponent’s tactics, granting the user 1 point of Edge that can only be used on a defensive test against that opponent.
Diagram of Vulnerability: As a Complex Action, the user can focus on a single visible target. They make a Magic + Intuition (4) test. Success reveals one of the target’s specific resistances or vulnerabilities (e.g., ‘Allergy: Silver,’ ‘Resistant to Fire,’ ‘Low Willpower’). The GM provides one factual, useful piece of data. This action is considered hostile if perceived by the target.

Starfinder

The Analyst’s Bones Level: 4 Price: 2,100 credits Slot: Held (1 hand); Bulk: L

A kit containing seven hexagonal wafers of a smooth, ceramic-like material inscribed with shifting, illuminated patterns. The “bones” are a sophisticated diagnostic tool that uses a combination of micro-sensors and minor divination magic to analyze physical and magical systems, revealing their underlying structure and weaknesses.

Game Mechanics:

Pattern Recognition: You can use this item in place of a standard computer for the purpose of the Decipher Writing task of the Computers skill; when you do so, you gain a +4 circumstance bonus to the check. You also gain a +2 insight bonus to Culture checks to Recall Knowledge about a creature’s tactics or a group’s organizational structure.
Analyze Weakness: As a standard action, you can target a creature you can see. The bones provide a flash of insight into its defenses. For your next attack against that creature before the end of your next turn, you can treat the target’s DR as if it were 5 lower, or its Energy Resistance to one energy type of your choice as if it were 10 lower. You can use this ability three times per day.
Diagnose Affliction: Once per day, you can spend 1 minute casting the bones over a creature or object suffering from a curse or disease. You learn the name and effects of the affliction, as if you had cast Identify.

Traveller (Mongoose 2nd Edition)

Vargr Strategic Analysis Kit

This device is a piece of advanced Vargr technology, highly prized by corsairs and military commanders. It consists of a small pouch containing seven self-orienting crystalline ‘bones’ that, when cast, create a networked predictive modeling system. The kit excels at finding patterns in chaos and providing clear, actionable intelligence.

TL: 14 Mass: 0.2 kg Cost: Cr 150,000 Legality: Restricted

Game Mechanics:

Pattern Analysis: The kit grants the user DM+2 on any check related to codebreaking, finding patterns in data, or predicting an enemy’s movements based on past behavior. This applies to skills such as Investigate, Electronics (computers), and Tactics (military).
Vulnerability Scan: As a Significant Action in combat, the user can designate one target within line of sight. The kit performs a quick sensor sweep and provides the target’s current Endurance and most significant armor value (e.g., the value on its weakest location). This information can be relayed to allies.
Logical Solution: When faced with a complex logical puzzle or a malfunctioning piece of technology, the kit can be used to diagnose the issue. The user may make an Average (8+) Electronics (computers) check. On a success, the kit provides one direct, useful clue to solving the problem (e.g., ‘The power conduit is reversed,’ ‘The password requires a numerical digit,’ ‘The primary logical fault is in the third subroutine’).

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (4th Edition)

The Skeptic’s Bones Enc: 5 Qualities: Magical, Analytical Availability: Very Rare

A pouch containing seven polished, unnaturally heavy bones, each inscribed with a precise, geometric rune that seems to hurt the eyes if stared at for too long. They do not channel the chaotic Winds of Magic. Instead, they force a cold, dispassionate logic upon the world, revealing the structure of things at the cost of one’s own warm-blooded certainty. The item is viewed with deep suspicion by most, but with covetous interest by the Cult of Verena, the goddess of learning.

Game Mechanics:

Cold Logic: The user is governed by logic, not emotion. They may use their Intelligence characteristic score when making a Test to resist any magical or psychological effect with the Fear or Psychology tag. However, this detachment makes them seem cold and aloof; they suffer a -10 penalty to all Charm and Fellowship Tests while the bones are openly carried.
Anatomical Inquest: As a Full Action, the user can cast the bones and make a Challenging (+0) Intelligence Test to analyze a single creature they can see. If successful, they learn one of the creature’s Traits of their choice (e.g., Weapon+X, Armour+X, Fear, Undead, Vulnerable to Fire). This knowledge is purely academic; the GM provides the Trait’s name and value.
Deconstruct Affliction: By performing a 10-minute ritual over a cursed person or object, the user can make a Hard (–20) Lore (Magic) Test. If successful, they learn the exact conditions required to break the curse or counter the magic (e.g., ‘Must be submerged in running water at dawn,’ ‘Requires an apology from a nobleman,’ ‘The effect is broken by the sound of a silver bell’). Gaining this forbidden, structured knowledge of magic may warrant a Corruption Test at the GM’s discretion.